Radio New Zealand, August 20, 2010 Introducing lean business-thinking to health is giving nurses more time with patients, according to hospital managers. They say it has been achieved through the rollout of a programme known as "The Productive Ward: Time to Care" at district health boards. The programme, adopted from the United Kingdom, gives nurses the opportunity to think about how wards are run and to re-arrange things to encourage efficiency and boost safety. It has seen rationalisation of stock, including bandages and dressings, as well as linen at Waikato DHB. ... Nurses

Naomi Arnold, The Nelson Mail, May 29, 2010 Hiring a private nurse to help care for a patient in Nelson Hospital is one of the "most distressing things I've ever heard of", says Labour health spokeswoman Ruth Dyson. The Nelson Mail reported yesterday that a nurse at Nelson Hospital had told Golden Bay resident Victoria Davis that they were too busy to give her mother the care she needed, and suggested that she hire a private nurse. Ms Davis paid a private nurse $100 a day for 10 days to come into the hospital to look after her mother, Josephine Fargo. Mrs Fargo was recovering from a severe bladder infection that had spread to her blood ... Dyson

Radio New Zealand, May 29, 2010 Nelson Marlborough District Health Board is investigating claims that a woman had to pay a private nurse to care for her mother in Nelson Hospital. Golden Bay resident Victoria Davis says nurses at the hospital told her in February they were too short staffed to care properly for the seriously ill patient. Ms Davis says she was advised to hire help if she couldn't provide it herself. She says she paid a private nurse for 10 days and believes her mother would not have recovered from a life threatening infection without the additional care. Ms Davis lodged a complaint with the District Health Board last week. The DHB says it is taking the complaint seriously but won't comment further. Copyright © 2010 Radio New Zealand

Naomi Arnold, The Nelson Mail, May 28, 2010 Golden Bay resident Victoria Davis spent $1000 hiring a nurse to care for her mother in Nelson Hospital after she says staff told her to hire outside help because they were too overworked to look after her. Ms Davis is also angered that a Nelson rest home missed the severe bladder infection that landed her mother, 87-year-old Josephine Fargo, in hospital with septicaemia when the infection spread to her blood. She's calling for the health board to take heed of nurses' working conditions, and hopes that rest homes will pay more attention to the quality of their staff and the condition of their residents. ... Hospital

New Zealand Nurses Organisation, August 10, 2007 The New Zealand Nurses
Organisation (NZNO) chief executive Geoff Annals has been advised by
the general secretary of the Fiji Nursing Association (FNA) that
striking nurses in Fiji will return to work on Saturday. Mr Annals has
been in regular contact with his counterpart in Fiji, Kuini Lutua. On
Tuesday Mrs Lutua was one of 20 nurses taken in for questioning by
police while staging a peaceful demonstration outside Government
Buildings in Suva. The nurses were all released later that day. At that
time Mrs Lutua reported that “nurses are not prepared to go back to
work until their wages are restored in full even though many are

New Zealand Nurses Organisation, August 8, 2007 The co-Chairs for the
Governance Board of the Safe Staffing Healthy Workplaces Unit, Jane
O’Malley for NZNO and Sue Wood for DHBs, today announced the
appointment of Vicky Brewer as Director of the Unit. Establishment of
the Unit was a key recommendation of the 2006 Committee of Inquiry
chaired by Retirement Commissioner Diana Crossan and comprising nursing
experts from DHBs, NZNO and the Ministry of Health. The Committee was
set up to develop a plan of action to address nurses’ concerns about
staffing and its impact on patient safety. The Committee successfully
completed its task and the work of the Unit will be to facilitate the

New Zealand Nurses Organisation, July 31, 2007 The New Zealand Nurses
Organisation takes a zero tolerance stance on all violence and supports
the proposal to use nurses to help identify and eliminate domestic
abuse. "A system of enquiry by any nurse making a primary assessment of
a patient, such as that in use at National Women's Hospital, is an
appropriate means to identify victims of domestic violence who might
not normally come to light," says CEO Geoff Annals. "What we are
talking about is not a simple intervention, but one that requires
appropriate training and facilities for safe and effective dialogue,"
says Geoff Annals. ... Nurses

Kim Thomas, Stuff, July 11, 2007 Emergency nurses are feeling "frail"
and "battered" in the fallout from a report into the care of a dying
man sent home from Christchurch Hospital. An independent report into
the death of Dean Carroll recommended customer service training for
nurses after his family complained about staff rudeness in dealing with
him. However, the review panel had no criticism of the professionalism
of nursing staff and receptionists. The report's authors noted the
family's annoyance that nursing staff involved in Carroll's treatment
refused to speak with the review panel on advice from their union, the
New Zealand Nurses' Organisation (NZNO). ... Nurses

New Zealand Nurses Organisation, July 4, 2007 Enrolled Nurses who began
training or graduated between 2000 and 18 September 2004 have received
the good news that Parliament’s Regulations Review Committee has
recommended the Government ensures they retain the title “Enrolled
Nurse.” The New Zealand Nurses Organisation complained to the
Regulations Review Committee that in deciding to change the title of
second-level nurses from “Enrolled Nurse” to “Nurse Assistant” for
those who graduated from 2000 onwards, the Nursing Council in effect
created two titles and two scopes of practice for nurses with
comparable qualifications. ... Good

Erin Parke, Dominion Post, July 3, 2007 The nurses' union has responded
angrily to a plan by district health boards to go to the homes of staff
claiming sick leave. New Zealand Nurses Organisation spokeswoman Glenda
Alexander said it was "offensive" that staff absenteeism was being
targeted when overwork and under-staffing were more serious problems.
"I find it interesting that DHBs are talking of absenteeism rather than
sick leave – there is an implication that nurses are not genuinely
sick. Staff are stretched at the best of times, so when people are off
sick there are simply not the casual staff to fill-in," she said. ... Nurses

Jared Savage, New Zealand Herald, July 1, 2007 New research shows that stressed nurses are putting patients at risk. It follows a spate of nurses facing disciplinary action for a range of serious offences, and has raised questions about the quality of the nursing workforce. A Massey University study of 3.3 million medical and surgical discharges from hospitals shows that patients are "without any doubt" more likely to die unexpectedly or suffer from complications when nursing turnover is high. The yet-to-be published research by Dr Jenny Carryer, professor of nursing at Massey, comes on top of another study which revealed that 40 per cent of Kiwi nurses change jobs each year. ... Stress

1XX Whakatane, June 26, 2007
There's no issue keeping nurses in Eastern Bay hospitals in the opinion of the District Health Board. A study by Auckland University shows 40% of staff nurses in hospital general wards leave their jobs each year. Communications Advisor Carol Woolerston admits there's a minor issue with nursing staff leaving each year. But Ms Woolerston says they don't have any problem recruiting staff so there's never a lack of nurses in the hospital. She says the DHB has career development opportunities to keep nurses on board.

Errol Kiong, New Zealand Herald, June 25, 2007 Forty per cent of staff nurses in New Zealand hospital general wards leave their jobs each year, costing hospitals an average of nearly $25,000 to replace each one. The study by Auckland University on nurse turnover at the country's public hospitals also found that hospital wards employ two nurses fewer, on average, than budgeted. ... "Nursing has an extremely high turnover of personnel and this is viewed as normal by most people in the healthcare field," said Associate Professor Nicola North, the study's primary investigator. But it appears New Zealand's turnover rate is higher than other developed countries. The figure met with some surprise at the International Council of Nurses Conference she attended late last month. ... 40pc

Christchurch Hospital staff fear the impact of winter flu, with overcrowding already "diabolical". Kamala Hayman, The Press, June 22, 2007 Hospital wards have been packed this week as plummeting temperatures have resulted in soaring numbers of the elderly and chronically ill developing acute illnesses. The hospital has been busy since April but this week hit "red gridlock" – the most extreme recorded. Every staffed bed has been full, with patients backed up in the emergency department, and no discharges planned. Last night, the hospital eased out of red into a still serious orange gridlock. Between five and 10 beds were empty, but a similar number of patients was awaiting admission in the department. Hospital general manager Mark Leggett said the situation was "tight". ... Nurses

Kamala Hayman, The Press, June 21, 2007 Minimum staffing ratios are needed for rest homes to ensure the elderly are adequately cared for, says the New Zealand Nurses' Organisation (NZNO). The union said a snapshot survey of staffing levels in four unnamed rest homes in Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton and Auckland found none met minimum guidelines. The guidelines have been agreed between providers, unions and the Health Ministry, but are not enforceable. The survey, carried out by union members this month, found one home had rostered only 51 per cent of the recommended number of registered nursing hours, while the best site managed just 78%. Caregiver hours were closer to the minimum recommended levels but also fell short at every site. ... Nurses